Thursday, January 31, 2008

S. Joplin "Pine Apple Rag"

Sometime composers prepare listeners for the harmonic suprise of mixture like in m. 77,78. In soprano voice is Gb in BIG bVI chord, which will later become a MAJOR third in I chord(m.79), and that is good exemple of mixture harmony.

If you listen to this incredible piece you will realize that the voice-leading patttern stands out in m. 77,78 and resolves in the mixture chord in m. 79 Eb I64.

In m. 79 the I 64 chord is the "bridge" between bVI and V64-7. After bVI we would expect V chord but instead we have I 64, which goes to IV,IV64-7 I; this is a really strong end.

I would call M. 69 :-P to 76 A, and I would also call m.77-85 A'. Both of those sections are 8 m. long (2+2+2+2) which is a parallel period.

1 comment:

M. 81, the G is a suspension, the chords are ii65 - iiø65. How does Joplin prepare the listener for the modal mixture of the bVI? Look at other blog posts.

Good analysis of the parallel period. Instead of writing sentences answering each of the questions, craft an essay expressing your thoughts about listening to this piece and performing this piece, using the workbook questions to find facts to guide and support your thoughts.